Improvement in cartridge-belts



A. MILLS. CARTRIDGE-BELT 193,613. I Patented. July 31,1877.

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1; OFFICE.

ANSO N MILLS, OF UNITED STATES ARMY.

IMPROVEMENT IN CARTRIDGE-BELTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 193,6 [8, dated July-31, 1877; application filed July 9, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANsoN MILLS, of the United States Army, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cartridge- Belts for Carrying Metallic Cartridges, and in the method of forming them, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification:

The cartridge-belts heretofore in use have been'made only by hand-that is, by sewing or stitching-the strip of material that forms the thimbles or pockets for receiving the cartridges to the body of the belt by thread or other material.

This construction has been found defective and objectionable in practice for the following reasons: First, the thimbles or pockets for holding the cartridges were not of uniform size throughout the series, and a perfect fit of the cartridges in the pockets or thimbles was not always secured; second, the method em ployed for uniting the parts required much time and labor, which rendered them expensive, and the belt thus produced was stiff, un-

yielding, and exceedingly liable to rip.

The object of this invention is to overcome these and other objections; and it consists in weaving the body of the belt and its thimbles or pockets in one piece, simultaneously, in one and the same loom, whereby not only a better and more desirable article is produced 1 than heretofore, but at less cost.

To enable those skilled in the artto make and use my invention, I will proceed more fully to describe it, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters refer to like parts in each of the figures.

Figurel represents a perspective view of my improved cartridge-belt; Fig. 2,a plan view thereof; Fig. 3, an edge view of the same; and Figs. 4 and 5, plan and edge views, respectively, of a part of the belt in course of construction.

A represents the body of the belt; B, the pistol-holster or knife or bayonet scabbard; O, the buckle; D, the tongue-strap; a, the thimbles or pockets for holding the cartridges, and b the perforations, which may be fitted with metal eyelets for admitting of the scabbard or shoulder-braces being laced to the body of the belt, so as not to interfere with the inserting 01' extracting of the cartridges.

In carrying out my invention, l employ a loom which differs from those of ordinary construction, in having two Warp or yarn beams, each of which carries a separate warp, and in having four or more leaves of harness, and mechanism for throwing two or more of said leaves of harness into and out of operation when it is desired to form the thimbles or pockets, as isusual in weaving ordinary tucked fabrics. v I

The warp-beams are so arranged that one is to furnish the warp for the thimbles or pockets, and the other combined with the first the supply for forming the main body of the belt.

In practice it is my intention to make the thimbles or pockets a a somewhat shorter than the width of the body of the belt, so that a narrow margin is left at each of their ends, as shown at their opposite ends 9 g in the drawings, whereby the clothing of the wearer may be protected from being soiled and abraded by the cartridges. It is therefore obvious that, these pockets or thimbles being of less length than the width of the body of the belt, the beam for carrying the warp therefor must be shorter that that for carrying the warp for the body.

During the weaving of the main body A of the belt all the harness are in operation and both the warps, the same being so shed as to form a plain Webbing fabric; but upon arriving at the point 01, where a thimble or pocket is to be made, the weaving of the body is suspended, by dropping its warp and harness out of operation, leaving only the harness and warp in position that are to form the thimbles or pockets, as shown in Fig. 5.

The weaving of this part of the fabric continues until a suflicient amount has been woven to form a thimble or pocket, after which the loom is stooped, and the beam for furnishing the warp for forming said thimble or pocket is relieved of the friction to which it was subjected during the weaving operation. The lay and reed are then brought forward to deliver the last weft -thread woven into said warp singly, up to the last weft thread that had been woven into the two warps. This having been done, a single thread of weft shot through the two warps secures the thimble or pocket to the body of the belt, and the friction may then be reapplied to the beam of the thimble or pocket warp, and both sets of harness put and continued in operation till another thimble or pocket is to be commenced, when the before-men tioned operation for weaving said thimbles or pockets is repeated, and so on through the whole series.

I do not propose to limit myself to the use of any particular material, as it is obvious that hemp, flax, cotton, silk, or any analogous fibrous material may be employed. In practice, however, I intend to use as a weft or filling, in the weaving of the thimbles or pockets, woolen, worsted, or other soft spongy yarn, so as to produce the necessary friction for holding the cartridge from being displaced.

Ordinarily I propose to weave the belts in pieces suitable to be worn about the waist; but it is obvious that the fabric may be woven in such pieces as are suitable to be worn over the shoulders, as cartridge-belts are sometimes worn; or the fabric may be woven or cut in pieces suitable to fit and be fixed in a cartridge pouch or box or ammunition-box for holding cartridges.

I am aware that tucked fabrics for ladies skirts, bustles, 850., have been before used. I do not, therefore, claim broadly a tucked fabric; but,

Having fully described my invention, what I do claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A cartridge box or belt having the thimbles or pockets for holding the cartridges woven upon the main portion of the fabric or belt, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the main portion of the belt A, of the thimbles or pockets a a, for holding the cartridges, connected to said belt by being woventhereto, as and for the purposes set forth.

7 3. The combination, with the belt A, of a series of thimbles or pockets, a a, for holding the cartridges, formed with a soft or spongy inner surface, for exerting a pressure or friction upon the cartridges, to hold them in place, as and for the purpose specified.

4. The cartridge-belt herein described, having the series of thimbles or pockets a a, for holding the cartridges, connected to said belt by being woven thereto, and provided with the edges or borders through which the perforations b bare formed, as and for the purpose set forth.

ANSON MILLS,

Captain Third Cavalry.

Witnesses:

T. O. BREGHT, D. P. GowL. 

